DETROIT — Some of the 55 colleges and universities facing federal investigation for their handling of sexual abuse allegations say they’re cooperating with the U.S. Education Department, though few are offering details about what information the agency is seeking.

Among those being investigated are five in Pennsylvania: Carnegie Mellon University, Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania State University, Swarthmore College and Temple University.

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is one of only a handful of schools named by federal officials Thursday to publicly reveal anything about why the department is investigating. The probe involves the school’s handling of a reported 2009 violation of its sexual misconduct policy by then-football placekicker Brendan Gibbons, who was expelled this past December.

Michigan is “fully cooperating” with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, school spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said.

“They were on campus a week or so ago doing some interviews with faculty, staff and students,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve had information related to the investigation posted on our website since they informed us about the investigation toward the end of February. This is well-known on campus.”

A student government group that examined the school’s student sexual misconduct policy said last month that it planned to share with investigators its determination that the university failed to explain the delay between the alleged incident and Gibbons’ expulsion.

The Obama administration is seeking more openness about the issue of sexual violence on and around the nation’s campuses. On Thursday, the Education Department revealed its list of schools facing investigations that were started after complaints were filed with its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) or as part of a review to see whether the schools were complying with Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds.

It is the same law that guarantees girls and women equal access to sports, but it also regulates institutions’ handling of sexual violence and increasingly is being used by victims who say their schools failed to protect them.

The schools range from public universities, including Ohio State, the University of California, Berkeley and Arizona State, to private schools including Knox College in Illinois, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and Catholic University of America in the District of Columbia. Some Ivy League schools also are on the list.

The department did not provide details, but information about some of the investigations has come out. The investigation at Vanderbilt University follows complaints filed in November by students and former students who alleged the school responded inadequately to reports of sexual assault. It also comes amid a criminal case in Nashville of allegations that four former Vanderbilt football players took part in a gang rape of a student in a school dorm last June.

A Vanderbilt spokesman said in an e-mail that the school was cooperating in the investigation.